TOYS "R" US TO LAUNCH ONLINE SPORTING-GOODS SITE WITH GLOBAL

          Toys "R" Us will launch an online sporting-goods store,
     Sportsrus.com, in partnership with Global Sports, according
     to William Bulkeley of the WALL STREET JOURNAL.  Global
     Sports will "build and operate the Web site, receive the
     money from customers and ship the goods from its
     warehouses."  Global's offer of providing a Web presence for
     "no expense" has already landed "six large sporting-goods
     chains, including The Sports Authority, Oshman's Sporting
     Goods and Athlete's Foot.  Global also manages commerce for
     KMart, athletesdirect.com and FoxSports.com.  Global
     "typically pays partners 7.5% of all sales generated by
     their Web sites and keeps the rest" (WALL ST JOURNAL, 7/31). 
          CHIP SHOTS: USA TODAY's Jon Swartz notes the "perilous
     field" for sports e-tailers, as some are "beginning to
     strike out, with no relief in sight from fidgety investors." 
     One example is ChipShot.com, which "scotched a series of
     national TV ads" with John Elway and last month laid off
     more than one-fifth of its 125 workers (USA TODAY, 7/31).